Recently, my Dad found this meme and asked me how true it was:
[img] https://cdn.boldomatic.com/content/post/...y?size=800[/img]
Alas, it turns out that, while technically true, at least, assuming that we’re talking about Coca-Cola, it’s not quite as true as people think. I checked Snopes, and while I didn’t find the amount of cocaine in the formula as of 1918, I did find that, “by 1902 it was as little as 1/400 of a grain of cocaine per ounce of syrup.” For the record, that’s about 0.162 mg/FL oz (5.48 mg/L). Given what I know about the US’ situation with cocaine around this time, specifically, the arc in Season 1 of The Knick where Thack is forced to go off cocaine when the US goes to war with the Philippines and cocaine production is drastically curtailed.
And, of course, by the time it was removed entirely in 1929, the amount used was even more infinitesimal, that, “In an entire year’s supply of 25-odd million gallons of Coca-Cola syrup, Heath figured, there might be six-hundredths of an ounce of cocaine.” So, yes, by that point, it was so small that an eight-ball could have covered two whole years’ worth of Coca-Cola’s entire manufacturing output. It took a while for me to calculate that it converts to 4.88 picograms per fluid ounce (165 picograms per liter.)
For the record, the current WHO-recommended guideline is to limit arsenic in drinking water to 10 micrograms per liter, so by 1929, it’d be at homeopathic levels. And I strongly suspect that by 1918, it’d be closer to that than even 1902.
[img] https://cdn.boldomatic.com/content/post/...y?size=800[/img]
Alas, it turns out that, while technically true, at least, assuming that we’re talking about Coca-Cola, it’s not quite as true as people think. I checked Snopes, and while I didn’t find the amount of cocaine in the formula as of 1918, I did find that, “by 1902 it was as little as 1/400 of a grain of cocaine per ounce of syrup.” For the record, that’s about 0.162 mg/FL oz (5.48 mg/L). Given what I know about the US’ situation with cocaine around this time, specifically, the arc in Season 1 of The Knick where Thack is forced to go off cocaine when the US goes to war with the Philippines and cocaine production is drastically curtailed.
And, of course, by the time it was removed entirely in 1929, the amount used was even more infinitesimal, that, “In an entire year’s supply of 25-odd million gallons of Coca-Cola syrup, Heath figured, there might be six-hundredths of an ounce of cocaine.” So, yes, by that point, it was so small that an eight-ball could have covered two whole years’ worth of Coca-Cola’s entire manufacturing output. It took a while for me to calculate that it converts to 4.88 picograms per fluid ounce (165 picograms per liter.)
For the record, the current WHO-recommended guideline is to limit arsenic in drinking water to 10 micrograms per liter, so by 1929, it’d be at homeopathic levels. And I strongly suspect that by 1918, it’d be closer to that than even 1902.
Comparing the Universal Oneness of All Life to Yo Mama since 2010.
I was born with the gift of laughter and a sense the world is mad.
I was born with the gift of laughter and a sense the world is mad.